Man who walked down Limerick street with a hatchet given four years prison sentence

A TIPPERARY man who committed multiple thefts in Limerick has been sentenced to four years in prison. 

Gary Quinlivan, 35, of Copperbeach View, Roscrea, Tipperary, produced a tool when a security guard approached him in Holland and Barret’s health store in Limerick shopping centre on September 11, 2024. 

When he was approached by the security guard, the man was found with €64 worth of goods on his person. An altercation followed which was captured on CCTV. 

Mr Quinlivan maintained to gardaí that the snips tool on his person that was produced was not a weapon but was instead used to steal items. 

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Mr Quinlivan committed four thefts in the space of a month in April 2025. The court heard that when he leaving Lidl Mr Quinlivan wielded a hatchet at a security guard when he was approached and was found with over €800 of goods. 

The court heard that the security guard divulged in his victim impact statement that he had to take eight weeks off work and find a new job because of the incident.

The court heard that after the altercation, the man fled the scene and left the trolley behind him. 

Mr Quinlivan was observed walking down Cruise’s Street with a hatchet on April 17, 2025. He then went on to steal €220 worth of goods from Supervalu in Castletroy. 

On another occasion in April of 2025, the man then took €1,000 worth of goods from Jetland, Dunnes Stores. 

Mr Quinlivian has over 112 previous convictions. Judge Colin Daly called the man a “recidivist” and told the court that “all these thefts were quite brazen”. 

Before sentencing, Judge Colin Daly summed up the mitigating factors in Mr Quinlivan’s case, saying that the man has had “a very difficult background” and “his sister died tragically”. He also stated that Mr Quinlivan is a father but has no relationship with his children. The judge commented that the man is doing well in prison and is drug free, has expressed remorse for his crimes and has some employment history. 

Mr Quinlivan was sentenced to four concurrent years in prison. The sentence was backdated to when he first was held in custody on April 23, 2025.